Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg at:

Woo/spider/rig oh my!

Yesterday I used some firebricks to raise my grill to the felt line. I think I want to invest in either the woo, or AR but I'm confused. I've read dozens of posts and the site's FAQ but am still confused.
I already own a plate setter, pizza stone, new wood table etc.
Someone please show me the light.

Comments

Great question, looking forward to the responses. I was going for the woo, but the woo extender is no longer available. So, I'm thinking the AR is for me. But....I've also read good things about the swing rack. Would be nice to hear comparison of all.

Both products are great quality. Tom from CGS is a really good guy and so is Franco from CGW. You can't go wrong with whatever you pick. I have the AR from CGS because it seemed more versitile. When I get into wokking, the Spider will accomodate that. I have a small and mini as well and CGW is working on a Swing Rack system for those. I'll be calling Franco when that's released. Enjoy yourself with whatever you choose!

I second what @travisstrick said, call tom at ceramicgrillstore and talk to him. Depending on what kind of cooks you plan on doing he will tell you what to get and not oversell you. Knowing what I know about Tom if he thinks a product from Ceramic Grill Works will better serve you he will honestly tell you.

I raise my kids, cook and golf. When work gets in the way I'm pissed, I'm pissed off 48 weeks a year.

Inbetween Iowa and Colorado, not close to anything remotely entertaining outside of football season.

Prior to my first purchase, I think I had a million things in my cart and I called Tom with some questions. 30 minutes later, he talked me out of ordering half the things I was going to and tailored my order to what I cook.

What makes Tom better than his competition is he's one of us. He's on this board and cooks at egg fests so he's not blindly making stuff for us, he's testing his product on a regular basis.

heres some reading for ya.. i started the topic and still cant decide. someone said buy both the AR and Swing Grate, uhh yea, I was LOL'ing!

I wish the swing rack from CGW had some sort of hinge mechanism to where you can add lump, wood chips or chunks without removing the entire rack. Im sure that can be a PITA and heavy if its loaded up with food! With that said, those of you with the Swing Rack from CGW, how do you do the above and is it a PITA?

I have the CGW Swing Rack for my large. I haven't found the need to add any wood after I have started cooking. I also am in the leave hot things in the egg camp and don't switch setups mid cook. I am sure it can be done but I have plenty of success without messing with hot things and testing out how well my welding gloves work.

If your not looking for a 2nd tier I would look at the woo that holds the platesetter inside of it.

I have the Woo for my small and a spider for my large from CGS and a Swing Rack as my multi-tier option. I believe I have the best of both worlds but you can't go wrong with either one. I would be happy to answer any questions about the swing rack or woo and spider if you have any.

Large & Small BGE, CGW Two-Tier Swing Rack for BOTH EGGS, Spider for the Wok, eggCARTen & and Cedar Pergola my Eggs call home in Edmond, OK.

Ive been watching the videos on the swing rack (http://ceramicgrillworks.com/videos/) I guess the the swing rack is a cast iron type of metal and will rust per Franco. Do you keep the swing rack housed in the grill when at all times? If so, does it develope rust at all? Franco said in the video if you do get rust, then heat up the grill to 500-600 degrees, and use a brush to get the rust off. Im sure that works, but then your wating at least an hour or more to get that temp back down to 250 range for a slow cook.

@EggHeadinFlorida I like in oklahoma and don't know if the Florida climate would be much different, the Swing Rack is made of Carbon Steel which is very similar to cast iron. I leave my swing rack in the egg for storage and have only had one tiny incidence of rust after a 8 pizza cook at 600-750° for a long time. All I did was sprayed some oil on it when I noticed it a couple days later, brushed it off, and then did some chicken wings for the Super Bowl and it was as good as ever. if you have food on it I haven't had one issue since. I got the swing rack last september and love it.

Large & Small BGE, CGW Two-Tier Swing Rack for BOTH EGGS, Spider for the Wok, eggCARTen & and Cedar Pergola my Eggs call home in Edmond, OK.

I dont think we are thinking to hard on this.. with the AR setup its $95 just for the AR rig + $45 for a grate (you really need 2 to make good use of the AR, so thats another $45.), $20 for the slide guide and your up to $205+ s/h.. The Swing Grate for the XL is $185.

Nothing wrong with doing research before buying, they both are great products made by great guys who are on the forum and use their products.

I wanted a simple two-tier system with full access to the bottom rack, so I went with the Swing Rack. It also works with the platesetter I had years before discovering this forum and the aftermarket eggcessories.

Each system has its own benefits, you just need to figure out which one works for what you cook more often. I like the Swing Rack but if the AR works better for your method of cooking, I will be one of the first to congratulate you on a awesome cook

@canadianeh just reread your original post, sorry if the swing rack wasn't something you were looking at. I highly recommend getting the spider and a wok as it is a great way to cook on the egg. The other options get a little complicated but are all great eggcessories.

Large & Small BGE, CGW Two-Tier Swing Rack for BOTH EGGS, Spider for the Wok, eggCARTen & and Cedar Pergola my Eggs call home in Edmond, OK.

You guys are thinking about this too hard. Buy one and try it. You'll probably be happy. If not then buy the other one. But buy the AR first. That's all you'll need.

I agree. Plus these type of questions have been asked thousands of times. This question and similar ones are asked daily (question was asked yesterday as well) and answered by the same people. Guess it gets that post count up. Search is a very useful tool, easy to use, and only takes seconds. A search would of given hundreds of threads on it. They need a forum on redundancy and a how to on using the simple feature of search/Google.

@candianeh & @EggHeadinFlorida feel free to ask all the questions you want it is much easier to get questions answered by starting a post than searching and bringing one back from the dead that was created by someone who is not active on the forum anymore. It is just as easy to skip over posts like these if people don't like them.

Myself and other helpful eggheads will be happy to try and answer your questions.

If you get bothered by this, just skip over the post. I'm pretty sure you can gather what it about because of the title. If you think I'm trying to get my post count up by answering a new guy's questions you couldn't be farther from the truth. I could care less and don't even look at that number, if I like something I comment on it even if I just say great cook I probably have bookmarked it and will make it at a later date. If I can help answer a question I will, pictures and helpful answers helped me out when I first got started so I would like to share some of my tips with others.

I joined this forum because I like cooking on my big green egg, finding new recipes, learning new techniques and sharing my cooks with others. I don't have time or care to deal with negativity towards anyone or any post.

Happy egging and if you have any other questions just ask!

Large & Small BGE, CGW Two-Tier Swing Rack for BOTH EGGS, Spider for the Wok, eggCARTen & and Cedar Pergola my Eggs call home in Edmond, OK.

@chrisnjenn I understand your frustration and I use the search function myself, but I have also seen what happens when people resurface old posts with questions. Since everyone uses the egghead forum the search function pulls up random things, now a easy way around that which I'm sure you know but i'll post it for anyone else looking. Google site:egghead forum Swing Rack but some people like asking their own questions and are learning how to post at the same time. Not everyone is from other forums (this is the first one I ever joined) so there is a learning curve. I am not disagreeing with you I just know in a couple weeks there will probably be another post like this and will continue as long as there are new members and competing eggcessories and I don't have a problem talking about my Woo, Swing Rack, & Spider.

Large & Small BGE, CGW Two-Tier Swing Rack for BOTH EGGS, Spider for the Wok, eggCARTen & and Cedar Pergola my Eggs call home in Edmond, OK.

@Solson005
I agree. It isn't so much the new people (I agree about the learning curve and I try to help new posters on questions like this), but those with over a hundred posts and been here for months. I think they do it out of laziness and/or attention.

Being a noob and wanting the raised grid for direct cooking, I got the extended grid for my XL on the BGE site. I've been able to cook two tiered, though probably not as easy as that swing rack. Either way, it was a cheaper alternative until I become a more accomplished Egghead. Plus, the sticker shock from the first four months made the extended rig more reasonable. Maverick, placesetter, Thermapen, trolley, cover, all sorts of DizzyPig, the BGE cookbook... adds up quick. I still have to get the Woo, the wok, the lump reducer and the books @VI has recommended. I'll watch posts like these and take the plunge for an AR or swing rack this fall.